PANJIM: The State Legislative Assembly on Thursday witnessed heated arguments between the ruling and opposition benches over the Union Defence ministry’s proposal to host the DefExpo and Aero Show in Goa.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar assured the House that land would be given to host the event for four days in March, with temporary structures in place, but did not rule out the possibility of the expo becoming a permanent fixture in the State. The Chief Minister said a decision on creating a permanent exposition ground will be taken after reviewing the performance of the March event.
“In the latest communication to the Union Defence Ministry on December 31, 2015, State government has informed them that the land for hosting DefExpo and Aero India show would be given for a period of four days and all structures shall be temporary structures, which will be removed after completion of the event,” Parsekar informed the House.
“With regard to the allotment of land as permanent venue, this is a different proposition and would be taken up separately. This will be based on the performance of event in March,” the Chief Minister added, stating that all apprehensions with regard to the issue have been settled by the government.
Parsekar was speaking during a calling attention motion moved by Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai who termed the government’s decision to allot 150 acres of land for the DefExpo at Quittol as a ‘land grab scam by the Defence Ministry’.
He pointed out that the Union Defence Ministry has also proposed an aero show on the same land next year which will require six lakh square metres which would be acquired on permanent basis to construct facilities like 10,000 square feet long runway.
“Defence Ministry has already grabbed whopping land in the State which was also brought to the notice of Goa State Legislative Assembly by then chief minister Manohar Parrikar. He had said that defence are the biggest land grabbers,” Sardesai said.
Congress Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavalekar informed the House that the proposed land was initially acquired from the comunidade for an industrial estate and sought to know whether after the March event, government intends to set up industrial units at the site.
Leader of the Opposition Pratapsingh Rane told the House that the worry of the MLAs is that once the land is given to the Defence Ministry; it won’t come back to the State.
Responding to the motion, Industries Minister Mahadev Naik said the government has already committed to the Union Ministry to host the upcoming DefExpo in March.
He said that over 600 companies, including 300 foreign companies, are likely to participate in the event. “The event would be also significant for the State economy and for the local people residing in nearby areas. It is estimated that around 1.5 lakh visitors including half foreign visitors would be attending the event,” Naik said, adding that this will bring in business for local hoteliers, taxi operators, vendors and other allied economic activities.
BJP MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar sparked off a verbal duel between the ruling and opposition benches when he claimed that Quittol should be declared as a permanent venue for the DefExpo. He pointed out that the former government (Congress) had acquired nearly 40 lakh sq mtrs of land in the name of SEZ, promising employment to locals.
Speaker Anant Shet was later forced to bring down the curtains on the verbal fights and call for the next item on the agenda.
